Resource Library

Talking about climate, especially with folks whose politics are different than our own, can be…challenging, given how polarized the issue has unfortunately become. At the same time, those types of face-to-face conversations are arguably one of the most critical approaches for moving past the social media echo chambers, and engaging Americans on this and other potentially divisive issues. This week we share work that several groups have done to use conversation to find common ground on climate (and in some cases mobilize people to act), and review the evidence behind the effectiveness of dialogues to improve public engagement, and ultimately move the needle on climate and clean energy.

While the federal climate policy landscape remains bleak, over 50 cities have committed to 100% clean energy goals, on top of 180 mayors who have endorsed 100% policies, with new campaigns continuing to be rolled out. And this is pushing utilities’ adoption of renewables. Today we report on new Lab-supported work from Climate Access that provides in-depth lessons from the “Ready for 100” initiatives (joint campaigns between the Sierra Club and local partners across the country). This research includes a case study of the Ready for 100 programs, take-aways from efforts in six cities*, and a webinar* featuring the Pueblo, CO, and Atlanta campaigns. You can also check out a previous Lab alert about how to communicate a clean energy vision*.

Last year, the Climate Advocacy Lab supported a multi-organization research project to help better understand the environmental “ladder of engagement” in an increasingly digital era. This week’s alert presents the exciting findings from this analysis of data — drawn from seven environmental organizations and over seven million unique members who took nearly 44 million online and offline actions over the past five years.